No snow, no ski race

Due to a lack of snow in northwestern Wisconsin, the 24 Hours of Telemark cross-country ski race has been canceled.

"Conditions on the Telemark trail system are definitely too thin to hold our event considering that last year our skiers completed 2,980 laps of the (5K) course over the 24 hour time span," race official Harry R. Spehar said in a statement.

The event was to have run from 10 a.m. Saturday until 10 a.m. Sunday on trails around Telemark resort near Cable. Participants include teams and individual competitors in events ranging from three hours to 24 hours.

"We worked on the course as much as we could but with the above freezing daytime temperatures and lack of snow, our base is down to less than 1 inch," he said. "We feel this would not be safe conditions for all skiers and potentially damaging to your ski equipment."

Although a chance of snow was forecast for the weekend, "this is not the year to place your bets on weather predictions," he said.

Those who already have registered for the race will not receive refunds.